Blind Indifference
by ReusLurid
Summary: 13year old Inuzaka Kiba. Leading a normal life of a shinobi. What does life expect for him though, when he meets the new girl who catches his eye, Ehime Mitsuki. Both from the same, yet quite different worlds. Is it meant to be for them to love each other
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Life As It Is 

"Aw, Akamaru! Take it easy!"

It was a quiet and sunny afternoon, yet Kiba couldn't help but complain seeing the little white furry dog on his lap scratch himself to the deaths.

The boy tried another attempt to calm the energetic dog down, "Akamaru, if you keep this up, you'll be sending most of your fleas to me," he chuckled, trying to imagine the look on his mom's face if she found even one of those 6-legged creatures crawling anywhere on his body.

"Rowr?" the dog, Akamaru whined innocently, facing his owner. Akamaru gave that manipulative cute puppy-eyed expression but little did he know, it wasn't gonna work on him this time,

"Seriously, if you're gonna make an adorable face, make it look like this one," his master then pointed at his own face, flashing his teeth.

"Any problem, Kiba?"

He turned his head to see his teammate, Shino, leaning side-on against a tree with a skeptic look.

He then replied, "Nah. Not really. Why?"

"I figured you had a problem when I heard you talking to yourself."

"Heh. I was talking to Akamaru. It's just that he has a bad case of the fleas."

"Looks like he's not the only one," Shino pointed at him.

"Wha-? Where? Where! Get it of me! Get it off!" Kiba quickly stood up, causing the surprised Akamaru to tumble onto the soft grass. And Kiba, being quite the jumpy one, frantically searched his body for traces of the pests.

"Um… Kiba-kun?" it was only now he noticed that Hinata was right there, standing beside Shino, "Shino-kun was only joking about the fleas," she uttered a slight giggle.

Shino, being quite pleased at his decent sense of humor, gave out a satisfied sigh, "Besides, you're with the Inuzaka clan. You work with dogs. It won't be much of a surprise if you do have fleas."

"Hmph! I resent that! And just for the record, I don't have any. Anyway, you work with bugs too. How do we know if you don't have fleas, hmm?" he gave a mild glare at the slight humiliation as Shino raised his eyebrow.

Akamaru aired it's tongue out and panted, as if laughing at him.

"You know, you're the one with fleas, Akamaru!" Kiba added at the mangy little furball.

His two teammates just laughed at him and his plainly stupid antics. And they call themselves friends.

"Heh. For what reason have you guys come. anyway? You can't just invade mine and Akamaru's space to mock me. That's just plain unreasonable.

Hinata answered him, "Well, you see, Hokage-sama is calling the attention of all Konoha ninja to assemble for a meeting…"

"Right now?" A somewhat anticipated look was glued on his face.

She nodded, "Yes, at the academy conference hall."

Conference hall, eh? Some news this might be.

"Well," Kiba picked up Akamaru and placed him under the warmth of his jacket with only his head and paws peeking out. "We had better be going now, hadn't we?"

They agreed and all started walking when Shino looked at him, "What about your fleas?"

"Please don't bring that up…"

"Alright! Glad to see you're all here," the country's Hokage, Tsunade began her opening statement. Her voice echoing throughout the Academy hall. Kiba could spot his team's sensei, Kurenai, in a row together with all the other jounin, aligned horizontally behind Tsunade-sama.

She opened her mouth once again to speak, "As you can see, I've summoned all of you to assemble here. There are some announcements I'd like to make regarding…"

And that was all she said that Kiba heard. Other than that, he could barely hear much of her voice. The audiences chit-chattering drowned the rest of her words down.

Akamaru began to pace in discomfort giving a look that said 'get-me-the-hell-out-of-here' at its master.

Kiba cringed his mouth, "I can't do anything about the noise, Akamaru. Tsunade-sama has to do something about it. Besides, I can hardly even see from here, too."

He was seated way over at the back, considering he lost sight of Shino and Hinata at the entrance. Luckily though, he spotted Naruto a few seats away from him beside Shikamaru and Chouji.

Kiba crouched down and shifted into an empty chair next to the yellow-haired genin.

"Oy, Naruto," he called out.

No response.

A little louder this time,

"Oy, Naruto!"

Yet again, no response.

Geez, was he deaf…? If he dpesn't hear this, he definitely needs a check up. He tried one last attempt to call his attention,

"OY, NARUTO!"

Whoops.

Wrong move.

It so happened at the same time that the room's noise died down, having someone –particularly an unfamiliar girl- enter it. Now though, their attention focused on Kiba, the loudmouth.

"Ehehe…" he slouched and sunk down low his chair, embarrassed at the particular incident.

As soon as the awkward pause passed, Shikamaru sighed, "You're lucky that Hokage-sama didn't notice that… I think."

Kiba nodded a 'yeah'.

A hollow _thud _was suddenly heard from below followed by a half open-eyed Naruto, a stream of drool running down his chin, "Huh… Wha-?"

"Naruto, you were there the whole time?" Kiba asked demandingly, quite perturbed.

Chouji answered for him, "Yeah. He fell asleep right before Hokage Tsunade even said anything.

They all laughed, knowing Naruto to be a hysterical riot whilst he looked around at them, completely and utterly clueless,

"What?"

"Nothing. Hey Naruto," Kiba asked him. Pondering as he looked up at the ceiling.

He replied, stroking the tired Akamaru's fur, "Yeah?"

"Have you ever considered… change?"

"Change?" he crinkled his nose ad frowned, thinking Kiba was referring about Naruto to change himself.

"Nothing personal. I just meant in general. We're growing up now aren't we? Things could happen… Yet we don't know a thing about it. It's like a sensation and stuff. The feeling that - You don't get me, do you?"

Naruto shook his head, meaning a 'no', "You mean like growing chest hair?"

"What the-? No! I mean, yeah. But that's not what I meant!"

"Heh. The only change Naruto's interested in is his skills in jutsus," said Chouji, offering his barbecue-flavored chips to them. They all shook their heads, amazed he actually was willing to give them some.

"To become the Hokage, eh? That's reasonable enough," Kiba gave a second thought and reached in the potato chip bag and munched on one, "But think of it this way Naruto. If you do become the greatest ninja ever, what if you'll become old and alone. The mightiest, yes, but what if the most conceited. The most vicious. The most fearful."

Naruto was slightly taken aback at the thought, "Trust me. That won't happen. I'll be the most talented. Most friendly and most handsome. I'll be surrounded by the hottest chicks."

They all rolled their eyes and laughed. Completely ignoring the noise all around them.

'What a weird bunch of guys' across the room, thought the girl upon peering a glance at them. 

She was brought in the room by Tsunade-sama a few minutes ago with the purpose of her being at Konoha. Of course an introduction is a must for that.

But no, she couldn't. Not that she would'nt but she literally couldn't.

Why?

She just merely could not…

A simple smile-less "hi," she uttered just for the sake of presenting herself as a new face.

Tsunade-sama called everyone's attention, "There is someone who will be joining us in Konoha from now on. She is from the Ehime clan. Please treat her equally with respect and like part of the family. That is all for now. You are dismissed," she pounded her fist on the table, signifying that they can all leave. The impact though, broke the table, which caused a few heads to turn leaving a momentarily shocked look on their faces.

The girl stared at the Hokage, slightly widening her eyes,

_ Was she insane?_

"Ahaha! Don't worry about that," she tuned to her, laughing nervously, "Izumo, Kotetsu! come over here!"

2 young jounin came running into the room following their leader's command.

Tsunade waved her hand at them casually, "Go bring this podium out and replace it with a new one," she ordered.

Kotetsu, the one with a bandage wrapped against his nose, dropped his jaw, "What? That's a 300-pound metal stand!"

"Do I hear a complaint?" her voice raised.

"N-no, no ma'am!"

"Good," Tsunade then lifted the podium table with a finger –considering her industrial strength-, "Please go and bring this outside then. Oh, and fetch me my paperwork from Shizune while you're at it," she tossed them the metal stand leaving them struggling to carry it.

"Yes, ma'am!"

They hurriedly left the room avoiding any further orders.

The girl scratched her head, pondering about,

'_What a long day this might turn out to be.'._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – There She Is**

Bustles of murmurs were heard from a small crowd gathered outside the Ichiraku ramen stand down east of the village of Konoha.

"The Ehime clan, eh?"

"You mean the new girl?"

"Who could she be?"

"Hokage-sama said she's already a chuunin."

"I'm wondering about where she came from…"

"What's the reason she's here?"

After what seemed a while, Kiba, Naruto and Akamaru cautiously approached them, puzzled at their gathering.

"What's all this about? All I wanted was to go and eat some beef ramen. Kiba's treating me," Naruto complained out loud.

"No I'm not…"

Ino, part of the crowd, replied to Naruto's question, "That new girl from the Ehime clan. The one that Hokage-sama brought in."

"Hokage obaa-san? Ehime clan? What are you talking about?" he replied, still clueless. Kiba too looked sort of confused.

They all looked at them dully, giving expecting looks.

Sakura placed a hand on one hip and cocked her eyebrow, "You two weren't listening to her announcements, weren't you?" she gave a tone of voice that anyone would have heard as an irritated tone at two irresponsible, immature 14-year old genin.

"Well, how could we listen if everyone else was blabbering too loud? What about Akamaru? _He_ wasn't listening." Naruto retorted at his pink-haired teammate.

All she did was sigh at his childish way of thinking, "Naruto, Akamaru's a _dog. _It's reasonable if he doesn't listen.

The white dog barked happily, unknowing of what they just said.

The boy with the pearl-lavender eyes, Neji, spoke up with his opinion, "It's weird though. That girl came here without reason just like that. Hokage didn't say or state anything why. It doesn't make much sense," he frowned, "It gives one something to think about."

"Bah. You're always worrying about tiny little things anyway. That doesn't matter. Now, everyone move aside so I can get my ramen," Naruto rudely shoved the people aside as Neji gave a slight glare at him. The hungry genin ignored their darting looks though, eagerly wanting to get to his bowl of steaming hot beef-veggie noodles.

Kiba shrugged with a calm expression, "Has anyone seen Shino or Hinata? I haven't seen them since the assembly."

All of them shook their heads.

"Well, thanks anyway. I'll go look for them instead. See ya." He waved goodbye, and headed the other direction. A bit concerned for Naruto though, noticing their ongoing murderous looks they shot him.

"Hmm… Where could they be?" he thought aloud to his dog, his head facing up the skies.

Out of the blue, Akamaru suddenly ran off barking and yipping along rocky cobble-stoned path.

It was only after a few seconds that Kiba noticed his dog scurrying on its own, "Wha- hey! Akamaru! Akamaru, come back!" Kiba began to follow after him wondering what it could be that enticed his dog to run off without a reason.

People's eyes followed them, questioningly and the thought of 'why was that crazy owner chasing his poor defenseless dog' went into their minds. as the chase continued a little longer. After all, Kiba was fast but his dog was _faster_. Considering the tireless hours Akamaru spent chasing –or being chased by- his master, playing with butterflies or just plain running around silly until he drops from fatigue or dehydration.

It eventually came to an end after a while when Akamaru finally came to a halt. Kiba panting, his hands on his knees, a few feet behind him,

"Akamaru, what are you thinking? Why would you just-"

Kiba stopped in mid-sentence upon looking up and noticing a fairly pretty, raven-haired girl, approximately his age or older, standing right beside his dog. He squinted, captivated and blinded by her garnet eyes on the spot –or rather the sun's glimmer shone on his face-.

"W-Who are… Who are-"

"Is this your dog?" she asked him before he got the chance to complete his sentence. She had that certain charm, somehow, that one of a kind charm slowing down the fast lane pace of guys like him.

He nodded, still eyeing her. Probably forgetting why he was there in the first place. His dog looked at both of them, satisfied.

"Ok. I'll be going now to see your, country's head, the Hokage," With that, she left him there before he could get any information concerned with her.

Kiba's mind was flooded –or emptied- with no other thoughts but her. Who she was. Where she came from. How she got here. Her this and her that. He wanted her _name_.

Then again, those were the same thoughts the crowd from the ramen shop had been asking each other.

"Bark bark!" Akamaru's yip snapped him back to reality as though he had flown to the heavens and met an angel in disguise.

"Oh right. Where was I? Oh yeah, you!" he scrunched his nose up at his dog, "Why'd you run off like that! We're supposed to find Shino and Hinata, and you're supposed to help! And what do you do? You go run off to some complete stranger and…"

He began to walk unsteadily on the sidewalk as if he was drunk and once again, his thoughts were filled with her, her and her alone,

"You run off to some complete stranger who happens to be very, very… very…"

_Thoing_

"Ow…" Kiba fell flat on the floor rubbing his head. His forehead appeared to be red at the fact that he hit it on the metal lamppost, obviously unknowing where he was going while his head was up in the clouds again.

"K-kiba-kun! Are you okay?" A familiar voice suddenly called out and Hinata rushed to his side with Shino following.

"As expected from the second village idiot," Shino gave an exasperated sigh, referring to the first idiot as Naruto, of course.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" he quickly stood up, brushing the dirt off his jacket, embarrassed at the fuss he's made but then suddenly remembered something, "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"A while ago, this… this girl! Somewhat like an… an angel or something…"

They still looked confused, unaware of what he was talking about, "Kiba, we don't know what you're talking about. Please elaborate."

"She was really pretty."

"Wow. That's a big help," Shino sneered sarcastically.

"Um… Kiba? Shino means her detailed physical appearances," said Hinata.

"Oh, well," he started to think, "She had fair skin, raven-black hair, garnet-colored eyes, purple over-vest with its length above her elbows, bandages wrapped around her waist, and probably a black size-A-cup bra-"

"Hey, You could have already stopped and the bandages part," Shino barked in his normal calm manner, partly amazed at his very-'detailed' description, "How did you even know that, anyway?"

Kiba strongly objected "I am _not_ a pervert! It happens to be just so obvious judging by the size of-"

Shino cut him off again before he could go any further, "Why are you so defensive? I didn't say you were a pervert, I only asked how you knew that 'information'. So, that probably means you are one, right?"

"I… Well, I- I mean… I meant that- Oh fine!"

"So you admit it? Hah. Now you're a pervert, an idiot and a fleabag," Shino remarked as Hinata laughed at their 'debate'.

"Again with the fleas? I do not have fleas!"

"So you say you don't have fleas, right?"

"Right!"

"You're not a fleabag, right?"

"Right!"

"But you're still a pervert, right?"

"Right! I- I mean wrong! I am hell _not_ a pervert! Just shut up already!"

"Fine, fine. I stand by what I say and have said all these years that you are a pervert, idiot and a fleabag. Case closed," Shino ended, coolly leaving the 'so-called' pervert, idiot and fleabag speechless.

He then finally managed to utter some words, then a sentence, "Hey we're missing the point. I was asking who was that… wing-less angel," he began piping dreamily again as his partner rolled his eyes.

"You say that about almost every girl you see."

Hinata added to his statement, "She's the new girl from the Ehime clan. The one that Hokage-sama brought in awhile ago."

Kiba blinked twice, turning to Shino "…Eh?"

"If you were listening, Hokage Tsunade introduced to us this new girl from the Ehime clan. That's all she stated though, didn't give us the first name though."

"Oh… ok. so that was her I bumped into?"

"Actually, you bumped into the post…"

"I meant before the post! The girl. Enough with the jokes, I'm serious." Kiba snarled, "Anyway, I'm heading home now, ok? See you two."

They bid him goodbye and he waited until they both were out of the naked eye's sight.

Kiba turned to Akamaru, "Heh. Didn't she say she was going to see the Hokage? Come on Akamaru, we're getting her name," he gave a sly smile as his dog looked at him questioningly. Without a word further they both headed the opposite direction of their house looking for the Ehime girl.

* * *

Hey again, here's my 2nd chapter. I'll post this along with the 3rd chapter for today. I hope you'll read it. Please give an honest review that can help me in my writing, if you want. Sorry if it sucks, i'm trying my best.

-Falya-kun

P.S. The 3rd chapter is Kiba's flashback on what happened earlier. Chapter 4 which i'll post soon is from Akamaru'sperspective.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Wrong Move**

Pissed.

That's what he was right now.

"God! How snobbish and stuck up can one get!" he yelled throwing his hands up in the air and began to mumble things under his breath.

"Kiba, everything alright?" A voice came from down the stairs upon hearing his angry shouts. Apparently, he forgot to close the wooden door. He would never really let anyone see him pissed off. He still has his pride, you know.

"Yeah, sis, I'm fine!" he called out again as he slammed it shut.

Down at the kitchen his sister was not the least bit concerned for her little brother, as she was preparing their dinner since their mom wasn't home and their dad was on a mission, _'If I know that little tyke, which I do, he's in a bad mood, he'd easily burst up at any little thing. That might be so but he easily cools down, too,'_ she smiled at the thought as she ignored a heard bang from his bedroom.

"And who's idea was it anyway to go up to her and ask her?" Kiba turned to his dog.

Akamaru looked at him and was about to open his mouth to bark as if to say, 'Yours', when Kiba stopped him, aware that it really was _his_ idea,

"Save it, Akamaru. I don't want to hear it," he snapped at the innocent fur ball.

Kiba stomped heavily on his room's floor, though if he were any madder, he would have attempted to use his used his Gatsuuga to destroy his own room.

He banged his fist against the window, hoping it would break to just be satisfied, "I can't stand it. She's just so irritating!"

After a while though, he realized that his complaining, banging and throwing a fit would do nothing to improve neither the situation nor mood he was in. Kiba flopped stomach-down on his soft, brown bed and thought about what had occurred a few hours ago…

_Kiba had been walking with Akamaru on the same path for a while now, "Geez, I can't believe I freakin' forgot where the Village Hall was. It's such a big structure…" his thoughts have been interrupted by Akamaru tugging at his dark brown pants and pointing his snout towards a light peach building. In short – Konoha hall._

_Suddenly, beside the wooden fence behind him, he spotted the same black-haired girl that he had stumbled upon earlier that day looking forward at nothing. Quickly, his nerves jolted and somehow caused him to and call out to her, "Hey, you!"_

_He didn't seem to catch her attention, anyhow. She hadn't budged her head to his direction, instead the girl walked behind the fence and disappeared into the alleyway next to it._

_'Hmm… where's she going now…?" he thought, following her all the same, Akamaru trailing behind. Upon reaching there, she was at the end now. He noticed she stopped for a bit and then continued going on, guessing she still didn't see him. Kiba ran all the way past the garbage cans and flies, hoping to at least get the chance to talk to her._

_Kiba saw her again darting tirelessly through the roads and past the Ichiraku ramen stand. She was as good as gone when he arrived there._

_"Hi Kiba! Where are you off to in such a rush?" The female co-ramen house keeper, Ayame, asked him when he passed._

_"So sorry, no time to talk, in a big hurry," he said in short breaths trying to keep up with that 'whoever-she-was' girl. She had been running for a while now up the road, going through as many turns as possible._

_'Oh for goodness sake… What the hell is she doing?'_

_Finally, he saw her reach the Hokage's building. He watched with widened eyes as her dainty feet in sandals walked up each granite step of the Konoha hall, "That's where she was going? She could've passed the way earlier instead of going through that ally!" Kiba didn't even bother to think of possibilities on why she hasn't done that._

_He still hasn't ceased to follow her and continued up the steps just as he had done. _

_Surprise, surprise._

_A wide, long hall and many doors awaited him upon going inside. Kiba just couldn't think of where she had gone. A thought though had crossed his mind and he slapped his forehead with a hand. If she was going to the Konoha hall, she must be wanting to go to the Hokage because what other reason would she have, doing there, with her being new and all._

_Duh._

_He raced up the stairs leading to the upper hallway frantically looking for the Hokage's office, and partly wondering why there weren't any jounin on guard._

_His question was answered when Hayate, a jounin, and also the sickly-looking 'coughing' instructor for the chuunin exams held every year, came out of the door of what was most likely to be the Hokage's office. _

_The 24 year old jounin looked at Kiba, questioningly, "What are you doing here?"_

_He obediently answered him, "I'm just going to see Hokage-sama…"_

_Hayate shrugged an 'ok' and headed downstairs, still coughing. Apparently, Hayate's chronic sickness worsened ever since the sand ninjas appeared. He was able to escape with minor injuries._

'_Hm… I wonder why's he here… Now, I'd better go check on that girl.'_

"_Hey, you, I just wanted to ask one- …eh?" he blurted out after he burst in the Hokage's office to see 2 faces looking at him in disturbance._

_"Is there any problem Kiba?" Tsunade-sama asked him, impatiently tapping her fingers on the desk._

_"Uh… n-no ma'am. I'm sorry. I'll wait outside…" that made him completely flustered and ashamed. He closed the door and sat on the maroon, velvet seats right outside beside the decorative plants._

_He heaved a deep sigh and a yawn as his hands ran over the soft couch covers stroking the sleepy Akamaru. He wondered on how long he'd have to wait and what they were talking about._

_A creak of the door brought Kiba back alert after what seemed like ages he spent waiting._

"_Thank you, Mitsuki."_

_Click._

_The door closed shut, following up the Hokage's dismissing of the girl._

"_Mitsuki, huh? Nice name, I'm Kiba," he said, grinning at the girl who stood expressionless beside the door._

_She, now known as Ehime Mitsuki, walked on along the hall pretending not to hear anything._

"_Hey, wait up," Kiba too, got up out of his seat, carrying Akamaru as he persisted to ask, "Where are you off to?"_

_Again, she did not bother answering him. Kiba continued following her and eventually reached out for her shoulder._

"_What is it that you want?" she finally voiced out with a slight irritation._

_Kiba made an imaginary 'victory' sign in his mind, "So I actually got out a word from you, after all," he gave a satisfied smile._

_She muttered a 'whatever' at him complete with a roll of eyes to add to the obnoxiousness._

"_I wanna ask you something."_

"_So go ask," she said, predicting an obvious, expected question. Surely, he would ask stuff like where she came from, where the rest of her clan was, what she was going to do here and all the usual bullshit she was sick of hearing._

_But he didn't,_

"_Mind if I hang out with you for a while?"_

_She was a bit taken aback at the request she rarely heard, but nodded anyway after a few seconds of silence._

"_So," he started on as they began walking, "Where's your other clan members?"_

_She cringed and twitched her eye at the dreaded question she 'thought' he wouldn't mention._

_Not exactly Mr. Smooth, if you ask me._

"_That's none of your business," Mitsuki snapped at him._

"_Fine, fine. If you want it that way, I'll lay off… I thought I could ask you a question."_

"_You just did when you wanted to hang with me…"_

"_Oh right," he chuckled, "Can I ask another one?"_

"_No."_

_He ignored her negative response and attempted to do so anyway. "Where did-"_

_Mitsuki then interrupted him, avoiding another question, "I said you can't ask me anything more," she firmly retorted._

"_Oh, come on. It's a harmless thing to ask. What's your problem, anyway?"_

_She now, was really ticked off at him, "What's MY problem? You ask me what my problem is? You're the one with a problem here!"_

"_I-"_

"_No, I'll let you in on my problem. It's YOU! I could tolerate you following and stalking me like you did a while ago. Isimply took the alleyway just to shake you off! And now you're interrogating me like a cop or something and you barely even know me!"_

"_It's not that, I just-"_

_Slap._

_She glared at his slight red face in spite of the red marks that also covered it, "I don't want to hear any word coming from thatpie-hole you calla mouth. Just leave me alone."_

The present Kiba felt the spot on his still slap-red cheek where her hand connected. He bit his lip as he thought of the memory causing a few drops of blood totrickle down his lower lip.

"Life gives us weird things, eh Akamaru?" he stood up searched for the medicine ointment for cuts in which he found on top of a drawer in his very messy room.

Kiba sat back down on the soft bouncy bed, noticing it was too quiet. Something was missing, "Akamaru? Where are you, boy?" he then frantically searched the room for his once again missing dog.

"Sis, did you see Akamaru go down?" he hollered down the stairs for his sister.

Then came her reply, "No, why? Did you lose him, again?"

He scowled and ignored her comment, thinking, '_He was maybe offended by the shouting I did, earlier. He thinks he's at fault…"_ as he went down looking worried.

"Good morning. Why the happy sunshine face?" his sister remarked, sarcastically as she prepared some sandwiches from leftovers.

"Not funny," he frowned, "I can't find Akamaru. I've searched everywhere upstairs. Under the bed, behind the closet, near the tables, inside the toilet…"

"Inside the _toilet_?" she raised an eyebrow, skeptically.

"Yeah yeah… wait. Did you say good _morning_?"

"Yes. You slept through the whole afternoon yesterday. You were snoring, too," she added.

"Oh… well I'm going out to find Akamaru now, see ya," he grabbed one of the sandwiches out of her hands and opened the door. "Hey wait! Don't shut the--"

Slam.

"door..." sheshook her head in dismay. Pretty much, she knew her brother was a hopeless case.

"Always the runner, never the thinker," she sighed and shook her head, continuing with her work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – A Dog's Eye View**

What a great day.

My master's probably looking for me by now.

It figures. Of course, he'd be looking for me. That's why I sort of ran away. But it's for a good cause, I swear!

People are taking glances at me though; they're probably wondering why I'm not with Kiba right now. I wish I could tell them but I can't. Whatever I say comes out in mere barks. Only Kiba understands my language.

Oh, there. I just spotted that girl again. Her name is Mitsuki, if what I heard was correct. She's a swordsman too if I'm not mistaken. Well, I'm sure of that since right now I can see her cleaning out her katana.

Geez, if Kiba made her any madder, he could've been her victim.

I began to approach her, "Bark, bark!"

The girl lowered her head to look at me, "Huh? Oh you're that kid's dog, Akamaru, aren't you?" she looked at me questioningly.

I merely panted, which probably signifies a 'yes' to humans.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your owner?"

I really couldn't answer her. Man, I wish I could speak the human language.

I watched her finish her drink as she set it aside, "Do you want to come with me to practice?" she asked me.

"Bark! Bark!"

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Mitsuki smiled at me, turning the other direction. I followed her along the road until we reached a clearing in the forest area. I have got to admit, I was quickly shocked that she already has found a good training spot in a day. To add to the surprise, the jounin, Hayate, whom Kiba and I saw outside the Hokage's office, stood at the center of the clearing.

"I'm ready, Hayate-sensei," Mitsuki said to him.

Sensei? That probably is the reason why he was in the office with her and Tsunade-sama. The Hokage appointed him, perhaps.

"The Inuzaka kid's dog, what's he doing here?" Hayate looked at me, coughing.

What was I doing here? She asked me to come with her.

"He's in my care for a while," she patted my soft fur.

Then the practice session started. It was like watching some sort of action movie with all her swift katana moves. The blade moved gracefully in circle motions.

"Good. There's this fighting style I'll show you, it's called the Mikadzuki no Mai," he performed for her the style he was talking about. In other words, the Dance of the Crescent Moon. The technique creates multiple bunshins to confuse the opponent as to while the real one attacks swiftly from the opponent's blindspot. As to its name, it works better at night. Well anyway, Kiba told me about it so that was how I knew.

After he was done. Mitsuki attempted the supposedly hard to master fighting style. The trick was positioning the bunshins carefully in order for the opponent's confusion to be dealt with. Again, another series of sword movements were done.

"Ahh!" she grasped her arm.

"You okay?" Hayate asked her, she removed her hand to see a slightly thick layer of blood coming out, "It's not the techniques forming that's hard, it's the fighting style's stances and positions," he continued between more coughs.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she gave a little frown, '_one more time…_' she had that determined look on her face. And in another second, more graceful moves were made as if she were dancing with her sword. It was like a waltz. Or a movie, the only thing missing was some drinks and popcorn for a happy viewing.

"Nicely done," Hayate congratulated her, "I didn't think you'd get it done so quickly."

"How was that, Akamaru?" Mitsuki grinned at me.

I barked and yipped at her in approval.

She was a nice girl once you got to know her better. I don't know what Kiba was ranting about. She might be rough at first, but she _is_ friendly.

Oh wait, I just remembered. Where _is_ Kiba, anyway? He'd probably be scowling through Mitsuki's whole training if he was here.

But seriously, I could tell that they look like a really perfect couple. Comparing the both of them, it would be an extreme difference, though. Well, Mitsuki's quiet, while Kiba on the other hand, is uh… how should I put it? Loud. Yeah, very loud.

But then again, they say opposites attract, don't they?

True, Kiba's also had gotten minor crushes before namely Ino, Sakura and even Hinata. But seriously, none of them really click that much with him. I have a sixth sense about these kinds of things. I_ am _his dog, after all.

Well, since I am. I could say he's coming to look for me now. In fact he'll be here in 5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

"Akamaru, where are you?"

See? What did I tell you? No, but wait, that voice… that isn't Kiba… that voice is much higher… it's…

"Naruto?" Hayate called out, startled at the yellow-haired genin. Kiba must have asked him to help find me.

"Ha-hayate-san… nani?" Naruto gave a widened-eyes, dumbstruck expression, dropping his jaw exaggeratedly upon looking at them. Unfortunately, the girl and her sensei were in an awkward position at that time. To be precise, the jounin had his arm wrapped around the girl's chest from the back. The scene of them had already brought devious little thoughts to Naruto's already infected brain, completely unaware of the fact that Hayate was merely holding her katana from the side, trying to counter the attack Mitsuki was currently practicing on.

Naruto tried choking out some words, "Uh… okay. I-I'll pretend I didn't see that. I'll be going now…" he whisked sideward avoiding any further matters. But I didn't think he could. He really just couldn't get out without saying the "P" word. But then, he couldn't call a jounin instructor that especially since he has a sickness despite it is what I've seen he calls his sensei, Kakashi all the time.

"P-p-… p-pervert!" he finally blurted out but then regretted it upon eyeing the look on Hayate's face, "Uh did I say pervert? No! I didn't say pervert! I said uh… perfect! I meant to say perfect. You have perfect coordination Hayate-san! I-I'll be seeing you!" he left quickly, even forgetting that I was here too.

"O-okay…" the jounin rolled his eyes, secretly blushing –yep, he blushed- and not wanting anything to pass around about him doing anything else but teaching techniques to his students.

Mitsuki looked like she didn't even care even though she probably knew what he meant.

In a few seconds, Naruto though came back quickly without saying a word and hurriedly picked me up off the ground, running back out of the clearing until I could barely see the two.

"Kiba! Kiba! I've got 'em!" Naruto cried out as I saw my owner far in front of us with a somewhat worried look on his face.

"Akamaru, where have you been? Don't do that again, ok. I was scared sick!" he crouched and bent down to pick me up as I scurried towards him.

It wasn't like I'd get lost or anything. The fact that I wasn't with him, worried him since we were always together. Always.

"Bark bark!" I tried reasoning out to him through my barks. He could understand me, of course. I simply told him I felt like going on an adventure, which was not exactly a lie coz I _did_ go on one, didn't I?

"Adventure? What adventure? Just don't do that again, clear?" he demanded from me. Gee, talk about overprotective.

"Bark!" that meant a 'yes' though I have my paws crossed.

Naruto then looked like he was about to burst then and there, "Kiba, I've gotta tell you something!"

"What?"

Whoa. He wouldn't wanna hear about this. It's just so messed up.

"You remember the chuunin exam last, last year, right?"

"If this was about how you beat me Naruto-"

"No! Not that, remember the battle's intructor, Hayate-san?"

"Oh yeah, that guy," I could tell Kiba was thinking about when he saw him at the Hokage's office, "What about him?"

"Well," Naruto began, "He… he's a pervert!"

"Huh? Could you explain yourself? I don't get you…" Kiba seemed obviously clueless to what he was talking about.

"That new girl, right? I don't know what her name is but-"

Kiba interrupted him, suggesting the name, "It's Mitsuki."

"What?"

"Mitsuki's her name," he added.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Anyway, Hayate-san was playing with her. You know, stuff that perverts do…" Naruto looked like he was even willing to state some examples.

Kiba was looking bewildered at the time, "What? That's freaky and impossible, not to mention weird! Where'd you see that?"

"It's true, I swear! A while ago in the place where I got your dog."

I do have a name, you know. I don't like being referred to as 'the dog'.

Kiba turned to me, I felt like I was gonna get in trouble, "Akamaru, you were there? Was what Naruto said, true?"

Technically, no. I began to explain it to him, again in barks.

"Oh, I see…." he laughed as soon as I was done explaining it to him.

Naruto looked left out, apparently not being able to understand my doggie words of wisdom.

"What he means, Naruto," Kiba began to further elaborate, "Hayate-san and Mitsuki-san were only practicing, stupid."

"Practicing perverted actions?"

"No! Training."

Naruto still wouldn't be convinced though, he gave a skeptic look, "Uh-huh… You're just saying that Kiba, coz you wanna get in good with the girl…"

"Baka! What the hell are you thinking?"

"Nothing, nothing…" Naruto smirked at him slyly.

They went on arguing. But me? I wasn't gonna stand here watching them. I'm heading home. Mmm… I smell raw steak…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Collapse**

"A what?" Naruto's voice was heard even from outside the building.

"A mission to be placed to retrieve a bronze scroll," the Hokage's voice said firmly, "You will be teamed up with Inuzaka Kiba and Ehime Mitsuki."

Kiba and Naruto were the only ones with the Hokage in the room that moment. The Inuzaka boy suddenly opposed, "But Hokage-sama, why aren't we with our usual teammates?" he felt uncomfortable having Mitsuki to participate since the awkward first impression she had on him.

"Because," she explained, "The other genin are also on filled missions, that's why we need Naruto," she refused to admit that the reason she needed Naruto is because he is very skilled.

Hokage Tsunade continued, "Shino is away with his dad on another mission and we can't use Hinata. Also, we need to test out Mitsuki to observe her skills since she doesn't have a permanent team. Her jounin instructor would be Gekkou Hayate since he is the Konoha swords master. She will serve as his apprentice for she also wields the title of a swordsman."

"The ahemsecretly perverted jounin," Naruto muffled a whisper to Kiba as he gave a snicker. He knew it wasn't true but it was still funny.

"Is there anything you'd like to say, Naruto? If there is, please say it aloud to show respect."

He truly was intimidated by the scary tone in her voice but he didn't back down,

"No, Tsunade obaa-san. I don't have anything to say," adding a fake angelic smile plastered on his face.

"Hmm…" Tsunade nodded, looking skeptic but further continued, "The scout ninjas report that the location of the thieves of the stolen scroll is currently at the Hidden Sand."

"Well, if it's at the sunagakure, why don't they just be the ones to retrieve the scroll, instead?" Naruto grunted.

Tsunade shook her head, "They don't know it and we can't risk telling them about it."

"But didn't the leaf and sand villages have the peace treaty already?" Kiba asked.

"True. But despite that, we still can't risk it. It is a scroll with hidden techniques from Konoha."

At that word, Naruto's eyes showed a devilish look, "Techniques?" he thought, "Maybe I could sneak a glance at it after getting back… That's a step closer to being the next Hokage… I can't wait!"

"Uh… Naruto? You're thinking out loud again…"

Kiba's voice snapped him out of his plot, looking up to see both Kiba and the Hokage Tsunade-sama staring at him.

"Hopeless…" Tsunade sighed in desperation with her forehead resting on her palm, "Kiba, I'm appointing you as team leader. Make sure Naruto doesn't get his hands on the scroll's content. The two of you gather Mitsuki and leave immediately," she ended in her loud voice and dismissed them.

They both left the room and silently closed the door leaving the Hokage alone to do her paperwork.

"Now where would that girl be…" Kiba wondered as him and Naruto walked down the stairs.

"Kiba, whenever you –ahh!"

_Thuck-thuck-thuck-thuck…_

_Thud._

"Na-naruto! Are you okay?" Kiba rushed to his friend who, sad to say, looked like a sorry sight with his face flat on the floor after impact of falling from the top stair.

"Yeah, yeah!" he quickly got up and brushed the dirt off his orange suit, not liking the fuss that was made over him.

"Er… ok. So what were you saying?" Kiba asked as they continued their walking.

"Huh? Oh right. What I was saying, Kiba, was that whenever you talk about that girl… What's her name again? Uhh…"

"Mitsuki."

"What? Who's Mitsuki?"

"The girl!"

"Oh right! I knew that. Now where was I? Oh yeah. Whenever you talk about _Mitsuki_," he put an emphasis on her name to show that he didn't forget it, "I always hear a hint of concern in your voice. Now explain that, hmm?"

"Eh? I don't get you… what do ya mean?… Hey! there she is now! Come on so we can get started," Kiba spotted her walking by the sidewalk near the plants as he ran towards her leaving Naruto to stand there, twitching his eyelid as he got more thoughts about the both of them in mind.

"Scatter out. They're coming. I can hear them," a ninja in a black suit and mask alerted his gang. They all were clothed in the gloomy shades of gray, most efficient as to hide in the shadow of the current night sky.

They darted in different directions upon hearing the light but rapid footsteps of leaf ninjas who were left on the prowl to pursue their prey, namely, _them_.

"Keep this with you and run. I'll make a diversion," the other ninja, who appeared to be a notch higher in rank than the other, tossed a brown-gold colored scroll to his rookie ally.

"Y-yes sir!" the rookie caught it and fled with the others, leaving his teammate on guard with two other allies. The masked ninja signaled for them to set the traps as a not-so-pleasant surprise for the awaiting visitors.

A few meters behind, 3 Hidden Leaf genin cautiously bounder from tree to tree as one of them instructed for his male and female teammates to halt. They stopped mid-branch beside the tree's upper trunk.

"Let's wait here for a while," the dog boy sniffed the air for any enemy traces of smell, "They're close… I can sense it."

"Hey Kiba, why are you acting all leader-like and such all of a sudden, it's getting irritating," the orange-suited Naruto whined.

Mitsuki slid her sword out of its sheath in case of any surprise attacks as she replied to his insolent question, "Coz he _is_ the leader, baka…"

Kiba smiled, "Right! And as the leader, I appoint you, Naruto, as the official divertion prevention manager."

"Heh…? And what the hell am I supposed to do with that job?"

"Gee, I don't know, you cry like a baby and hope they don't kill ya!"

"Nani!" Naruto glared at his teammate in shock. Both baring his teeth and clenching his fist above his neck, "What the hell are you trying to say?"

"Kidding, kidding! No need to lose your cool," Kiba laughed out loud at his own satirical sense of humor, completely ignoring Mitsuki's roll of eyes. He continued, "Just go send in a Kage Bunshin near the enemy territory."

"Eh? If I do that, won't they know that we're here?"

"Trust me," a sly grin spread across his cheeks, "They already do."

"But-"

"Just do it!"

"Fine!" Naruto threw his hands up in an impatient motion, stomping his feet on the ground like a little kid as he walked. He began cursing and grumbling gibberish words that none of them could really quite hear.

"What was that, Naruto?" Kiba gritted his teeth, swearing he heard the blonde idiot say some words like "bossy" and "dog".

"Nothing, nothing… Oh! Heyyy I get it now!" Naruto began putting on a mischievous, peevish look that made Kiba not like the look of that.

"Naruto, wha-?"

"You're shooing me away so you'd be alone with your girlfriend here. Wow, good strategy, Kiba!"

The confused boy wrinkled his nose, "Huh?" What do you..." he switched his view from Naruto to the emotionless Mitsuki and quickly turned away, hiding any traces of blushing, "Ba-baka…! What the hell are you thinking! I-I'm planning our formation!" Kiba shouted defensively.

"Heh. Whatever you say, captain," said Naruto, gesturing a salute that gave out an air of sarcasm and he hastily rushed out to do the task as Kiba ordered.

Mr. "big shot" leader and Mitsuki –and Akamaru– were left by him to face a very awkward silence.

"So, what do we do now?" came Mitsuki's voice that broke the series of soundless moments that lay among them, obviously ignoring the fact that they really were alone as said by the vulgar Naruto.

'Well, uh…" Kiba ran his hand through his brown hair, still pretty perturbed, "We wait, I guess…"

She cocked her head at him, expectantly, "You _guess_? Don't tell me you haven't thought of a full plan yet…"

"Er…"

"I figured as much…" she let out an exasperated sigh probably thinking of a million reasons on why, of all people, did she have to be team partners with this idiot. Not to mention the other blonde idiot, too. Well, it was not a choice Mitsuki could make. She'll just have to suffer with these two clowns, instead.

"Hey, it's not as if I haven't come up with anything! We'll wait here 'til…"

"'til what…?"

"Uh, well, I haven't thought of that part yet, but at least it's something!"

"That's not something. It's barely anything, not to mention, useless. You're merely risking your teammate's life by sending him straight to the enemy. Are you even thinking?"

"Shuddup! I know what I'm doing!" Kiba gave a scorned pout.

"Sure," she said and rolled her eyes in the same calm manner she had always worn.

"Now you stay here! I'll go over to where Naruto is and observe the thieves or whatever. Just don't move," Kiba made a motion with his hands for Mitsuki to stay as if she were a dog.

What an irony.

Considering he was the one scratching his own 'flea'-infested head.

"Whatever," Mitsuki scowled at him, but obeyed anyway, knowing of course it was pointless to argue against a guy like him. She sat down on the spot she stood on preparing to wait…

And wait…

And wait.

Kiba then fled as he has said, with Akamaru sticking its furry head outside his owner's jacket.

_'Geez, she can really be a pain in the ass…' he thought to himself, 'Hmph, who needs a girl anyway, they're too troublesome… Wow, I'm starting to sound like Shikamaru now… But enough about them! Where the hell's Naruto!' he began turning his head left and right, looking for his genin teammate. Along with an occasional sniff in the air with his nose for a scent. You never know… Knowing_ Naruto, he could've farted or something.

_Creak. Snap._

"Huh? Akamaru, did you hear that?"

No answer.

"Hey, Akamaru, did you hear-" he almost fell off a branch upon turning his head to find not more than a strand of fur lying in his jacket's hood.

"A-akamaru! Oi! Where are you?" he stuttered. Kiba assumed his dog had run away again considering he had done so – two times this past week.

Kiba cupped his hands and hovered then on his mouth having it echo the sound of his deep voice, "C'mon, Akamaru! This is no time for jokes! It's not funny anymore! Where are you!" the brown-headed boy walked on, frantically looking for his lost dog.

"At least make a sound, Akamaru!" he desperately asked, hoping request would come true. The odds of that were against him, though. It was possible the furry white dog couldn't have heard him. There was no clear sign of lost hope as he sighed when he suddenly heard a familiar sound that raised his spirit.

_Bark! Bark bark!_

"Huh? Akamar- aah!" the pain he suddenly felt he saw was nonetheless taken by surprise. He withdrew a kunai that had just pierced his crimson bloody flesh leaving a gash on both his jacket and shoulder.

'A set-up! I should've known!' he thought, gritting his teeth both in anguish and anger.

"Where the fuck is my dog!" Kiba shouted viciously at the unseen figure.

Soon enough, a dark silhouette came out of the trees' shadows, appearing to be carrying an immobilized white dog.

"Wh… What the hell have you done to him!" spat Kiba angrily, trying to hide possible tones of fear indicated in his voice. He had almost lost Akamaru already once before, Kiba didn't want that mistake to happen again.

"Heh. You've got some nerve, kid," the unknown ninja sneered in a male's voice, "A weak genin like you speaking to his superiors like that, how disrespectful."

Kiba snorted. The only time he'd respect a guy like him is when pigs fly.

"If you dare harm my dog, I swear you'd regret it."

"Why? What are you gonna do? Bite me?" the enemy figure laughed sadistically, "But don't worry, this mutt actually proved itself useful. Earlier, we heard dog barks and assumed it was the Konoha ninjas who were after as. We, how you say, 'borrowed' your dog and obviously you called for him, which leads me to here where I am now."

The Inuzaka boy didn't say anything but just glared at him, baring his teeth like a wolf ready to pounce and rip its prey's flesh into bits and pieces.

The ninja took advantage of Kiba's silence, "Your insolence amuses me. But enough of that, I'll be going now to pay a little visit to your female teammate. If you must know, I don't like irritating, little, brats in the way." A sick, devilish smile was plastered on his face.

Kiba knew what that meant. He surely was not going to let anything happen to his comrades, all the more, Mitsuki.

"You bastard!" he roared clenching his fist into a ball and started to charge towards his foe. Nothing, just nothing could get past him now.

_Almost_ nothing.

His hand was an inch apart from meeting the other ninja's face when he suddenly stopped, rather, freezed in position.

_'What the...!'_

The masked ninja laughed again after seeing the genin struggle, "Might I mention that the kunai I threw earlier was poison-paralysis tipped? The toxins will seep in your body in a matter of minutes now thus also draining a great deal of your chakra. Your dog will join you too, soon," he tossed the helpless dog mercilessly on the ground beside his owner, "If you'll excuse me, I've planned the same fate for your teammate too. You'll be able to see the color of her gut, too." With another sadistic chortle, the ninja disappeared through the trees leaving Kiba unable to do anything about it.

"Shit!" he said to himself, alone with his dog with nothing to do but dread for the intoxication to engulf them both. 'Damn it…! There's nothing I can do now…' he reached for Akamaru but collapsed sidewards in exhaustion instead, 'I… can't move… I'm…"

Kiba knew he was defeated. There was really nothing left to do now. Billions of thoughts passed through his mind in a flash as his eyelids turned heavy. He tried choking out words hoping that Naruto or anyone for that matter could hear. It was no use. Kiba was left to faint or even die there if nothing could help him. He reached into his pocket pulling out a small, round, red pill. The last of all his soldier pills. With much of his effort, he without hesitation brought the pill to his dog's mouth.

"There. Now you can go ahead, Akamaru. Don't worry about me," he gave a last glance to his dog and slowly closing his eyes, "I…

I'm sorry…"


	6. Chapter 6

I've finally posted my 6th chapter. Sorry for the long wait, I barely had much time. This chapter's sorta like a semi guest chapter. I had writer's block near the last part, so my friend wrote 1/3 of this chapter (the last part when Mitsuki has an arguement w/ Kiba) Anyway, hope u like it

my friend's penname is hiraeth93 if you wanted to know.

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**Chapter 6 – I Blame You**

"Kiba?" A voice echoed calling out his name. Was it an angel? Had… had he already departed the earth? Slowly his eyes opened to see a vision to him unlike any other. An angel indeed. Her raven-black tresses fell upon her face's radiant glow as she pulled them back behind her ear. But then… why…

Why… did it seem so familiar?

"Oy, Kiba! You awake yet?" an irritating voice that called from afar had confirmed it. That definitely had to be Naruto. And that angel? Boy, was he embarrassed. It was just Mitsuki. She may be his, how you say, 'vision' of an angel, but Kiba certainly wasn't dead!

"H-huh?"

His two teammates looked at him ignorantly but then remembered that he'd been knocked out and probably wouldn't be able to recall anything that happened earlier.

"You fainted," Mitsuki plainly said, seeing that the boy was confused.

That probably didn't help since he gave the both of them another questioning look.

"What she means to say is," Naruto explained, "We found you and Akamaru–"

Kiba suddenly cut his sentence out of concern, "A-akamaru! Where is he!" he frantically turned his head, grasping the white bed sheets laid on him.

"He's with your sister," Naruto scowled, not wanting to be interrupted, "Now shut up and let me finish. Ahem I waited just like you told me, standing guard near the enemy. You were taking too long so I figured I'd go back to Mitsuki. When I went back though, I saw her standing around about 6 dead corpses with the scroll in her hand. We both headed out to find you and bring you back to the village, so here we are," he ended.

"Uh… ok," Kiba tried to gulp down all that information on what had happened while he was 'half-dead'. Did they –well, Mitsuki- really manage all that while he was gone? After all, he didn't really know quite that much about her nor what she was capable and skilled of. "So where's the scroll now?" he asked them.

"Right here."

They all turned to see their beaming Hokage tossing the scroll up in the air with one hand, "Good job everyone, a rank b mission complete," she really couldn't help but give a little smile considering that cooperation in Kiba's team would be a little hard to achieve having a new face, namely, Mitsuki on the team.

She continued, "None of you came back with any wounds or bruises to worry about. As for you though, Kiba, your carelessness brought your body to a poisoned state. But fortunately, the toxins have already been extracted. You'll have to lay back on exerting your chakra. A little rest will do the trick."

"Yeah…" he faintly muttered, frowning.

"Something wrong?" Mitsuki turned to the boy, noticing a slight disturbance in him yet without much of concern in her voice.

"And what would you care?" Kiba snapped, particularly in a changing bad mood at the moment.

She sighed and looked away as if saying, 'have it your way then…'

Tsunade then cleared her throat to have their attention, "Thank you, Mitsuki, Naruto, you both can leave Kiba here. His sensei will see him now," she gestured to the two, indicating for them to leave their teammate as she too left through the door, allowing another figure to enter.

"Kurenai-sensei…" the boy greeted at the person.

"Happy to see me, Kiba?" the female jounin smiled back at her subordinate.

Kiba merely grumbled with his head down, assuming he'd get chewed out, him being expected to be a little more than the 'genin with an injury' right now.

"Don't be embarrassed," she smiled, lifting up his chin, "they were also strong opponents."

_'Yeah? Then why were Mitsuki and Naruto able to succeed flawlessly?' _he thought to himself with a frown.

"You're teammates weren't flawless. You just had your guard down a little, that's all," said Kurenai.

"…really…" Kiba tilted his head a bit, still feeling quite low, yet partly shocked at the fact that it was as though his sensei could read his mind… or was it just obvious.

Was he _that_ predictable?

Either way, it was Kurenai's expectation as a team leader to be able to read those damp expression faces her subordinates often give out, allowing her a vague idea on what was going on inside their heads.

"Kiba, everyone has flaws. Your mind wasn't fully focused on the mission," his sensei lectured, placing her hand on his shoulder, "You probably were immersed with something else…"

_Blush._

His two cheeks were immediately taken over by faded pink pigments of blood rising below his face's skin as a certain thought no, a certain girl entered his mind. Though his attempts to bury his face in the white cloth were proven useless.

"It's about Mitsuki, isn't it?" she asked the obvious question supposedly leading to an obvious answer.

_Double blush._

"Huh? What…?" Kiba asked trying to hide those stupid scarlet colors from appearing on his cheeks –not those red marks, mind you.

Kurenai continued, of course noticing the numerous blushes, "Kiba, regarding Mitsuki, I need to tell you something. Mitsuki… she's a lot more that meets the eye… We… don't know yet where she came from our any previous information of her. According to hokage-sama, most of her memory was lost. Currently, they are trying to research on any available data regarding her status, clan biography or any village she was from. These things would normally be handled with extra precaution though hokage-sama seems to have an interest of medicinal and experimental purpose. Such an alarming situation it is but…"

Kiba waited for the completion of her statement to come though it never did. Instead a tried and failed attempt to hide a look of worry was on her face.

"Just promise me you'll not get deeply trusting with this girl… We don't know what she is really capable of so there are great risks… Hayate-san is sent to observe her though…"

The boy stifled a laugh thinking she was joking about all that crap.

Her? _Mitsuki?_ Dangerous?

Oh, please.

Kurenai didn't laugh back though, her face was as solid and serious very unlike the previous smile she gave out earlier. She got up from the side of the bed and started out the door.

"Kiba, I'm trusting you with this. Not a word about it to anyone…"

He nodded slowly as he too stood up, grunting as he pushed the white sheets away from his body. How irritating, such a fuss over that girl. Though, he did have some feelings for her, right? Why else would those blushes have appeared.

Headache.

These events came so fast, as to him it was all a big confusion of both his thoughts and feelings. Sigh. Why would he give a damn anyway. The boy began to look for his white little Akamaru before things could get any worse.

"Mitsuki?"

The girl turned to her sensei, arousing a fresh, new day's scent as she walked on the dusty, cobblestone village path.

"No practice for today, ok? I'll be busy," the coughing Hayate instructed her, with his face looking a little more troubled than usual.

_'Busy? How can he be busy? It wasn't like he did extremely heavy tasks all the time...'_ she pondered silently, but then again of course, understood with a stroke of compassion since he already is quite sickly as it is.

"Work on focusing your speed to counter opponents."

"Sure," Mitsuki nodded obediently just as she should.

The jounin then _poofed_ out of the area hence the white smoke around where he stood. An act really not very rare around ninjas and blah.

The 15-year old konoichi started to look at the ground where her feet were firmly planted on. Her mind began to wander again when a little, feeble black ant crossed her path.

An ant.

Wow.

An unusual source of entertainment but even tiny things like that to Mitsuki could make her think. Inspiration, I guess. That brought her to thoughts, that a little ant was to be compared to anything. To… Kiba.

Wait, how'd he suddenly pop in her head like that, as if she suddenly remembered him out of nowhere? Possible, because he really was like an ant—physically strong, though mentally weak and emotionally rebellious, minding his voice probably.

But despite his loud and obnoxious attitude, he was quite a persevering little trooper, in some term—mind the ant. Maybe he was more than meets the eye… surely there would be more to him than that exterior of his.

Time was running, yet it remained as a mainstream flow. Had she already wasted a good 10 minutes and some, though she barely even noticed it. But one thing was sure—she noticed a 1.5 foot white animal prancing towards the path. "Akamaru,"

It was the white dog once again. She couldn't think of why the fur ball would come running to her again having this be probably the third time. And where there's the dog, there's the owner.

But wait, she thought twice before looking up. He obviously wasn't there, hence that there was no loud outbursts of his complaints and such. Mitsuki recalled herself earlier asking the boy what was wrong, though a bitter response came out of his lips. He was in a bad mood. That was all she could think about then.

The little fur ball led out a soft bark as it crawled up in her arms. "What are you doing here? Where's your…"

Before she could say anything else, a cold and uneasy presence suddenly surrounded the place, as a shadow hovered over her feet. Mitsuki looked up, trying to make out the face which was overshadowed by the sun behind him.

"Hey, what're you doing with Akamaru?" a cold serious voice called out. It was Kiba, the boy she was thinking about just then.

What an unpleasant coincidence.

He had a face of mixed anger and confusion, like he was supposed to burst in flames. Yet in his eyes, set a calm and pleased face—basically a boy with many faces.

As if she was unaffected by his current bitter attitude, she merely answered him, "Nothing, he came over to me…"

"Akamaru come here," he ignored here reply as he snapped in a stricken voice, ordering his pup to come over. Akamaru barked out a soft one, as he jumped off her arms and towards Kiba.

No matter, she continued the fiery conversation willingly, not caring if he was in a bad mood or not. Anyway why should his attitude affect her, "Why aren't you at the infirmary?"

"I blame you."

"What?" Mitsuki suddenly looked up at him, her eyebrows defining a look of confusion and doubt. "What did I do?"

"You're such a pain in the ass…"

"What…? What did I do that made you say—".

"Such a pain that you drive me crazy…! You feel like you're in charge don't you? Killing everyone and leaving nothing for me since I'm such a hapless shinobi who happened to faint."

Mitsuki laughed despite his 'enraging' shown anger.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Kiba then clenched his fists as he somewhat bared his teeth.

"What? Are you gonna beat me up? Go ahead. You know, you're acting like a little kid."

The boy was taken aback, expecting her to get intimidated by his attitude, but rather, it was _he _who was the one a little intimidated, though obviously he didn't show it. After all, he couldn't really _hit_ the girl, with her being a female and all, despite it's example of gender discrimination, "See? There you go again with your big shot attitude. You just feel like you wanted to show off your abilities and skills, huh? Well it ain't working on me because I ain't dumb!"

Mitsuki tried to suppress more laughter. '_I'm the one with the big shot attitude? And who does he think he is? Mr. Modesty?_' She wanted to say that but it was better to leave it alone, she wouldn't want Kiba to get even more pissed off.

Mitsuki reasoned instead, "That's no reason to go and blame me…"

"Hell yeah it is! You and your stupid sword thinge—"

"Katana."

"Whatever! You think you and your stupid katana can compete against me! I was made team captain so don't act like you're the one in charge, you got that! And furthermore, for you being such a pain in the ass, stop sticking your nose up on other people's businesses!" Kiba finally shouted, and left the girl in a speechless scene of awkwardness.

"Let's go Akamaru," he barked, lifting his pup in his arms. Akamaru moaned a soft mumble, a sense of concern in his little eyes towards Mitsuki. "Stop that, you know she's not worth pitying."

Mitsuki merely rolled her eyes and looked down at Akamaru, giving him a look which could be read as, 'it's OK, I'll catch up to you in a little while,'

Akamaru continued to moan as he dug himself under his shirt. "I said be quiet Akamaru,"

"Kiba you're acting really immature."

"I'm not hearing anyone!" he shouted out loud. Mitsuki sighed, shutting her eyes, quite disgusted at the boy. She eyed him exasperatedly as he stormed off.

He got his facts all wrong. First of all, he was what he called himself as the 'Big Shot'. Secondly, how could she stick her nose in his business? If he was talking about the mission, it was a _team_work. It wasn't called kibawork, it was TEAMwork, with a heavy emphasis on the word 'team'. It wasn't her problem if he didn't like to paired with her. Though really, in obvious terms, the boy had not reason to call her a pain in the ass. His reason's weren't even enough to be called a reason!

"Must be hokage-sama's medicine again…"


End file.
